There have been few people funnier than Fred Willard, who emerged in the '70s as Martin Mull's sidekick on "Fernwood 2 Night" and had a long run in the era of mockumentaries which followed that trailblazing fake talk show (like "Best in Show"). He died at age 86.
No one did deadpan like Willard, a veteran of Chicago's Second City. He was more recently known for his "Tonight Show" bits with Jay Leno (a throwback to the days when Steve Allen hosted and interviewed various men on the street, picked up later by Jimmy Kimmel) and on ABC's "Modern Family." And here's his highlight reel from his appearances with David Letterman on "Late Night."
Here's Willard, in "This Is Spinal Tap," welcoming the shaggy-haired metal rockers to a military base to perform during the monthly at-ease weekend:
Lynn Shelton, just 54, died this weekend. She made quiet, wonderful films from her base in Seattle. She was already in her 40s when she made her debut, and she broke through as a leader of the Mumblecore scene when she wrote and directed "Humpday" with Mark Duplass in 2009. She and Duplass quickly followed that up with the even stronger "Your Sister's Sister" (where we also rediscovered Rosemarie DeWitt, fresh off of "Mad Men").
Shelton, who made money in recent years directing TV shows, drifted a bit with the so-so "Touchy Feely" ("a rare misstep") and "Laggies" (saddled with Keira Knightly). And she disappointed last year with the disjointed "Sword of Trust." But she was back on her game the year before that with "Outside In," a powerful character study twinning Edie Falco and Jay Duplass, Mark's brother, who wrote the script with Shelton.
Shelton wrote and directed tender stories about the human condition, and her death is a big loss for storytelling cinema. Here's a good appreciation from Variety.
BONUS TRACK
Our title track, from the Chicago Sun-Times in July 1998, the twinning of actor Robert Young and astronaut Alan Shepard:
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